Extensible football goal post



March 22, 1960 c. SIMMONS EXTENSIBLE FOOTBALL com. POST Filed June 3, 1959 58 Charles SImmons INVESTOR.

BY cu flaw; 5M

United States Patent EXIENSIBLE FOOTBALL GOAL POST Charles Simmons, Elkins, W. Va.

Application June 3, 1959, Serial No. 817,754

Claims. (Cl. 273-55) The present invention generally relates to a football goal post and more particularly to a football goal post assembly in which the cross bar and uprights extending vertically thereabove may be moved from a position in alignment with the end line or boundary marker of the end zone to a position overlying and in alignment with the goal line.

In present day football, the rules of professional football are different from the rules in high school football and in collegiate football as to the orientation of the goal posts and the cross bar associated with the goal post. In professional football, the goal posts are mounted on and in alignment with the goal line at the end of the playing field. In collegiate and high school football, the goal posts and cross bar are mounted at the end boundary line of the end zone. In view of this differential, the same football goal posts assembly cannot be used for high school football, college football and professional football. One of the major objections to having the goal posts on the goal line is the obstruction that they provide to the players during normal play adjacent the goal line and such obstructions can be extremely hazardous and cause injury. However, having the goal posts mounted on the goal line entices the offensive team to try more field goal attempts which results in a more interesting game. Therefore, it is the primary object of the present invention to provide an extensible football goal post assembly in which the cross bar and uprights may be moved from a retracted position overlying the end boundary line of the end zone to a position overlying the goal line with the cross bar and uprights extending only above the cross bar are supported by two longitudinally adjustable cantilever support elements together with mechanical means for extending and retracting the goal post including the cross bar, uprights and support members.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a football goal post assembly which may be manually or automatically operated by a remote control switch.

A still further object of the present invention is to provide a football goal post assembly which is easy to install, easy to adjust to the desired position, efiicient in operation, sturdy, rugged, and generally inexpensive to manufacture.

These together with other objects and advantages which will become subsequently apparent reside in the details of construction and operation as more fully hereinafter described and claimed, reference being had to the accompanying drawings forming a part hereof, wherein like numerals refer to like parts throughout, and in which:

Figure l is a perspective view of the football goal post of the present invention illustrating the device in retracted position and in the extended position in dotted lines;

Figure 2 is a longitudinal sectional view taken substantially along the longitudinal center line of one of the extensible elements for supporting the crossbar and upright members;

Figure 3 is a sectional view similar to Figure 2 but with the device extended; and

Figure 4 is a transverse, sectional view taken substantially upon a plane passing along section line 4-4 of Figure 2 illustrating the details of construction of the invention.

Referring now specifically to the drawings, the numeral 10 generally designates the football goal post assembly of the present invention which is supported adjacent the end boundary line 12 of the end zone 14 which is 10 yards outwardly of the goal line 16 which also forms the inner boundary line for the end zone 14. The end zone 14 is 10 yards in length and it is only necessary to carry the ball over the goal line 16 into the end zone 14 in order to score. In scoring, it quite often occurs that passes are thrown into the end zone and quite oftenare caught for scores. Under present professional rules, the goal post assembly is disposed at the goal line 16 which forms obstructions to passes and also to persons running with the ball which quite often cause injury and otherwise interfere with normal play. In order to avoid this and for other reasons, the goal post in collegiate football and high school football is disposed at the end boundary line 12 of the end zone 14, which orientation does not interfere with normal play but does eliminate the field goal as a potent offensive weapon.

The present invention incorporates a pair of vertical support members 18 which may be of any suitable construction such as eye beams as shown or tubular pipe members which are anchored in the ground surface, concrete or the like immediately adjacent the end line 12. Rigidly supported in an elevated horizontal position on each of the vertical members 18 is an elongated tubular cantilever support member 20. The rear end of each member 20 is braced by an inclined brace member 22 rigidly connected thereto and rigidly connected to the upright or vertical members 18 adjacent the lower end and on the rear edge thereof. The forward end of the tubular member 20 projects slightly forwardly of the vertical members 18 and is secured thereto by any suitable means such as welding, bolting or the like.

Slidable in the support member 20 is a pair of telescopic tubular members 24 and 26. The members 24 and 26 are telescopic in relation to each other and also in relation to the support member 20. The outer end of the member 26 supports a pair of uprights 28 having a cross bar 30 rigidly interconnecting the lower ends thereof. The cross bar 30 in combination with the uprights 28 forms the football goal and may be supported directly over the end boundary line '12 as illustrated in solid line in Figure 1 or directly over the goal line 16 as illustrated in dotted line in Figure 1 whereby the football goal post assembly 10 may be employed for either high school or collegiate football or for professional football.

Means is provided for extending the cross bar 30 and uprights 28 with such means including a vertically disposed shaft 32 mounted on each vertical member 18 by a bearing 34 with the upper end of the shaft 32 being journaled in brackets 36 which are vertically spaced on the support member 20. A shaft 32 is disposed outwardly of each vertical member 18 and each shaft 32 is provided with a bevel gear 38 in meshing engagement with a bevel gear 40 on the end of an elongated interconnecting shaft which extends horizontally under a transverse interconnecting member 42. The interconnecting shaft is designated by the numeral 44 and causes. rotational movement of the shaft 32 at the same speed and for the same number of turns thus assuring that both ends of the cross bar and uprights 28 move the same distance.

The lower end of one of the shafts 32 is provided with seamen an extension 46 having a crank handle '48 thereon which may be rotated for rotating the shaft 32 thus causing rotation of the interconnecting shaft 44 and the outer shaft'32 at the same speed. While a manually operated crank handle 48 has been illustrated, it is pointed out that the shafts may be'rotated by an electric motor or other .power device which maybe remotely controlled for control 'by the persons officiating at the game which will enable the ofiicials to have the cross bar and uprights 30 and 28 disposed in retracted position during normal .play butwill have its eie'ments disposed in'overlying relation to thegoal line for field goal attempts and for point after touchdown.

The upperen'd of the shaft 32 or that part received between the brackets 36 is in the 'form'of a winch drum 50 having a cable 52 extending in one direction therefrom and a cable 54 extending in the other direction therefrom with the cable 52 being entrained over a pulley V 56 at the forward end of the tubular member 20 and cable assembly is such that as the winch is turned in one direction, the cable 52 is wound 'onto the winch and the cable 54 is wound off the winch. Thus, as the cable 52 is wound on the winch from the condition shown in Figure 2, the telescopic section 26 will be moved outwardly; Thedntermediate tubular member 24 and "the support member 20 each having longitudinal slots '62 and 64 respectively for receiving the pin "69. As the member 26 is moved outwardly, thepin fifi'will'engage a transverse'portidn '66 forming a closure for the slot 64 and will also abuttingly engage a' transverse member 68 forming a closure for the slot 62thus limiting the outward movement of the member 26 in relation to the members 24 and 20. When moving in the other'dir'ection, the pin 60 will engage a transverse abutment 70 forming a closure for the rear end of the slot 64 thus retracting the member 24 as well as the member 26 back into the support 20 which also has a transverse abutment 72 forming a rear end for the slot 62 thereby permitting movement of the telescopic members but limiting such movement to a safe limit. V

In operation of the device, it is only necessary to rotate the shafts 32 in order to cause linear movement of the cables in a manner to extend or retract the extensible sections thereby extending or retracting the :goal post 4 line' for a fiel'd goal try. The device may be constructed of any suitable material such as hollow metal material and anti-friction rollers or wheels may be employed if desired. One metal which readily lends itself to the construction is an extruded aluminum construction which is extremely light in weight, strong and durable and substantially corrosion resistant and long lasting. The foregoing is considered as illustrative only of the principles of the invention. Further, since numerous modifications and changes will readily-occur to those skilled in the art, it is not desired to limit the invention to the exact con struction and operation shown and described, and accordingly,-all suitable modifications and equivalents may be resorted to, falling within the scope of the invention as claimed.

What is claimed as new is as follows:

A 1. A football goal post assembly comprising a pair of vertical upright supporting members, a horizontal supporting member supported rigidly on each vertical member, extensible members mounted on the horizontal support member for longitudinal extension and retraction, the outer ends of the outermost extension members sup porting a pair of upr ights with the lower ends thereof interconnected by a cross bar whereby the uprights cross bar may be extended from a position substantially vertical support "members are interconnected by a transverse member, and a brace member interconnecting rear end of with horizontal support member and the vertical support members for rigidifyin'g the horizontal support members.

3. The structure as defined in claim 1 wherein said horizontalsupport member is tubular in construction and the extensible members are tubular in construction and telescopic in relation to each other and in relation to means for extending the extensible members includes a defined by the cross bar and uprights 28, thereby enabling the goal post to be disposed'out of the 'way at the end zone line during normal play but permitting the ofiicials or others to extend the goal post to the goal cable system and a Winch interconnecting the cables for moving the extensible members inwardly and outwardly of the horizontal support member.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Casky et Dec. 1957 

